New nx9420 - Review (2+ thumbs Up)

I just got my new HP nx9420 Notebook.

My goal for getting this laptop was to have a Powerful Machine that would be able to run Virtual Machines effectivly. Since it is for work I found the HP Business line was attractive vs. Dell and while IBM/Lenovo have nice Business Laptops, they are expensive and they didn't offer anything comparable to this laptop.

Specs:

• nx9420 (RB549UT)
• Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7200 (2.0GHZ) processor
• 17.0-inch WSXGA+ wide viewing angle BrightView display (1680x1050)
• 1024MB 667MHz DDR SDRAM (1 DIMM) + Extra 1gb Stick of 667. (The HP site now lists this laptop with 533mhz ram, however mine came with 667.)
• 100 GB (5400 rpm)
• DVD+/-RW
• Intel® 802.11a/b/g Integrated Bluetooth®
• ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics controller with 256 MB of discrete video memory

First Impressions: On the first boot up, it creates the recovery partition and installs software. This is not skipable (at least it didn't appear to be). When it is done, it reboots and you log in. Then you are prompted to burn the Recovery DVD/CD. This is highly recommended, but not mandatory. You can only do this once however.
I decided to burn these and therefore I wasn't able to use the laptop for about the first 2+hours after I booted it.

Once that was done, I decided to start Organizing it. I removed some of the software but I left the Bluetooth and all the Security Software. The figer print reader is very specific. I found that unless I was swiping my finger in almost the exact erfect center of the reader it would fail to recognize it. Seting up the embedded security/TPM was a pain. Even though all I had done was burn the Recovery Disks, when I tried to initialize the TMP Embedded Security chip it reported that it was setup previously on another OS Partition (which didn't exist). To get around it I had to go into the BIOS and reset it to Factory Defaults, and the Disable/Enable it again. Once that was done setting up the software side was easy.

I have found the security software to be lacking however. The credential manager is clunky and akward. Unless you use the Credential Manager as the main OS logon, you then have to manually load it to log into it, if you want to use the TPM chip. As near as I can tell the Software also does not intergrate with Lotus Notes or Novell.

After playing around with it for a bit, I decided that the Default HP install was to bloated, even after removing a lot of things. So I decided to reformat the machine. Before I did this I followed a few important steps.

• Burn/Backup the SWSETUP folder. (VERY, VERY IMPORTANT)
• I made a Slipstreamed XPSP2 Cd that included all the Windows Updates and SATA drivers.

After that the format and Install when fine. I was able to install easily using HP downloads all the Software and drivers I needed with only one exception. The Bluetooth Module would not seem to accept the Downloaded drivers. I only got it to work by Having the Driver Wizard scan the SWSetup DVD I burned.
However that worked fine.

After a few days, I love this laptop very much, and I am very satisfied. I would highly reccommend this laptop to anyone. Not only is it resonable priced it is very powerful and the X1600 is a decent mobile card. This should also be more then enough for Vista as long as you have enough RAM. Another nice thing about this laptop is that the default 1gb of RAM comes as one 1gb Stick, not 2x512mb.

The brightview screen is beautiful and once I got the newest ATI Drivers on (Cat6.9+Mobility Mod) I found it looked even nicer. I really notice a differance compared to my desktop. (Why don't they make these nice screens on Dektop LCD's.)

A few inital Quibbles (I come from a Thinkpad A31).

• The volume buttons on the Keyboard don't have an on-screen display.
• The CPU jumps around a lot.... when plugged in it should stick to 2ghz, Speedstep should only apply when on battery.
• ProtectTools and Embedded Security are clunky and akward.
• I keep hitting FN instead of CTRL.... switch them around.
• No beep when Power Adaptor is unplugged/plugged in
• Without any tweaking my Laptop 3DMark was lower then my old desktop...
• The recovery Partition is visable in My Computer even after I took away it's drive letter Assignment in Diskmanager
• It didn't come with a Factory Recovery DVD

Overall I am happy with it, and I'm sure once I am done tweaking, it will be even better.

I give this Laptop 2+ Thumbs Up and higly reccomend it. So far I can't say I have had a single episode of regret or dissapointment.

 

can you explain what is a 2 thumbs up? good, very good, outstanding?

 

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Several things that may save someone some time, keep them from pulling their hair out...

On the unit I received Sep-5-2006 (a nx6325 RB526UT#ABA) -NEW Model, parts not listed on HP Partsurfer yet.... I tried to image the hd, BEFORE the first boot.. with Arconis True Image..... Well to make a long story short HP images some kind of RAW? image file (forgot the exact wording) that Arconis didn't like.... process bar saying like two hours+, but would not progress.... Tried it again and Arconis said the partition had some kind of error on it..... It saying that because of the image file being in a format it didn't like...

Didn't try to image it with any other programs, and Arconis may indeed copy the image file... so your mileage may vary.

Wanted to copy the partition before the first boot, in case I needed to restore it.... On the "home" models it only allows (1) copy of the Os restore discs to be created... that's why I was wanting to image the drive... in case I ever needed to put the stock stuff back on... (when I sell it)


On the SpeedStep, I just applied the power settings on my machine to Desktop /Always on, or something like that.... and it's running at full speed on A/C power, before it was stepping down while on A/C power.... Keep in mind this is for a single core cpu... I would assume that programs like Notebook Hardware Control, etc would allow for more "detailed" settings... (NOTE NHC has "problems with certain Intel Core Duo 2? chips)

* * * *

Reference links:

HOT DEAL !!!! $500 after $100 HP mail in rebate. This unit being priced normally at $975
RB526UT#ABA HP /Compaq nx6325
mfg at Inventec factory

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread176205.html



HP Partsurfer


http://www.partsurfer.hp.com/cgi-bin/spi/main

 

I would say outstanding. A few minor things to get used to (coming from IBM) but nothing to serious.

 

Bump - I added a bit more info and cleared up some earlier statments.

 

Nice laptop and short review. I'm glad you like it.

 

should be outstanding

 

I think there's a BIOS option to switch the Fn/Ctrl buttons .. at least, I saw one on my nc8430, so...

 

There is, but then I would feel silly to me... I wish you could switch the labels, or if they were the same size keys, then you could switch the keys as well.

 

I just found out a huge drawback (For me).


HP notebooks do NOT support Hardware Virtualization. HP goes out of their wa to disable this feature in Intel CPU's. The don't advertise this, and it's like pulling teeth trying to get info from them on this.

So if you plan on doing a lot of Virtual Machine work, pass on this laptop, however if Virtual Machines are not a concern, or you don't know what one is, then by all means I sill reccommend this laptop to you.

 

Is this just a cpu thing or is there more to it, e.g. bios or chipset? Would a retail change anything?

 

Probably a BIOS thing...I know the nc8430 has a BIOS option to disable one core on my machine.

It doesn't make much sense that they would disable a feature...they don't even save $$$ by doing that!

AFAIK, even if you don't have VT tech enabled...you can still run a VM, but you'll need some good software engineered to work well without VT. It's still possible, but not as convenient.

 

Seems that they locked it out because it wasn't tested.

You can read more about it in the support forums:

http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/bizsupport/questionanswer.do?threadId=1051601


Also you can run Virtual Machines without it, but it speeds them up quite a bit, and since it's a solution devised by Intel I don't understand HP locking it out.

 

I read through the HP support thread and although most (all but one IIRC) do not support VT, HP is supposed to add VT functionality through a BIOs update. It also seems that many OEMs disable VT, so if it something your looking for, make sure the model you are looking at actually supports it befor you buy.

thanks for the link BTW

 

Can you please be more specific ?
What desktop do you have and what tweaking did u do ?
I am about to buy this toy very soon.

Also, you said you use it for work and you need Virtual Machine running on it. Does it work ?
I will use it also for work and I do need running MS Virtual Machine for example.

Thank you.

 

Can please someone tell me if VT problems applies to nx9420 also with MS Virtual PC ?

thank you

 

Yes you can still use this machine for Virtual Machines. The only thing that doesn't work (for now, HP might released a BIOS update) is the Hardware assisted Virtualization. Basically what this means is the Virtual Machine is entirely software run. It sends commands to to the Host OS which then relays them to the CPU.

Hardware assisted vitualization allows the Virtual Machine (either MS Virtual PC 2007 or Vmware) to directly talk to the CPU, bypassing the host OS.


As for the benchmarks, my desktop is a P4 3.0Ghz w/ HT, 1gb Ram, ATI x850XT, WinXP.

The laptop is Core 2 Duo 2.0 Ghz, 1gb RAM, ATI mobility x1600.

My 3dMark Scores are as follows:

3DMark 2005
Desktop: 4732
Laptop: 3819

3DMark 2006
Desktop 1513
Laptop: 1709

 

funny numbers, i wonder hows in 2007
yet, can you please say what tweaking exactly you did ?

thanks for clearing it up with the VT.

i have just ordered the same type as you have yesterday. it will be my first laptop.
right after i saw in a video a hp nx9420 with its 17" screen widei liked it instantly.
i liked it more after i discovered it has a T7200 Dual 2 core and 1gb of ddr2 667 ram.
but i like the design also and it seems quite slim with a very good battery life (from what some people say).

yet, i did a little search and i saw some benchmarks which say that HP is slower than a similar laptop from other brand. i dont mind (too much) but its a stain on it considering the price.
is that true ? and if yes any idea why is that, its interesting to know.

thanks alot.

 

My tweaking conisted of formatting the Laptop and installing WinXP SP2 from scratch (make sure you burn the recovery disks first, also burn the SWSETUP folder).

You will need to make a custom XP install disk to add the SATA drivers, or you need a usb floppy drive to add the SATA drivers using the F6 during install method.

After I installed tweaked ATI drivers from www.driverheaven.net. All other drivers I got from HP site or intel's.

I did find that if I disabled the ATI "Powerplay" option (look in the driver) I got a score about 1000 lower in 3dMark.

This laptop wasn't really for games for me (although it should play most fine). For what I use it for I love it, I just wish it had the hardware VT support.

 

Hi,

oglsmm, i got my nx9420 similar to yours, except i have 1GB RAM
here is the test result with the last 3DMark06 free edition (i didnt change anything in the config)

3DMark Score: 1725
SM2.0 Score: 614
HDR/SM3.0 Score: 632
CPU Score: 1752

My Desktop:
3DMark Score: 1868
SM2.0 Score: 733
HDR/SM3.0 Score: 633
CPU Score: 1604

Its intersting that my desktop CPU Intel 950D got lower points then the laptop's CPU.

anyway, i dont find 3DMark to be a true guide for a notebook at all.
its focused on gaming power, the Video board and CPU.
a notebook is not for gaming (yet).

I reinstalled the system with WinXP Pro SP 2 (i got the laptop with XP Home)
and with all drivers from the HP website for nx9420 model ( here)

overall, i like the laptop
i liked that i didnt have any probs with driver installation for Windows XP SP2
everything went OK

i bought this laptop as a desktop more-quiet replacement

what i dont like at it is the 5400 HDD which is slow and you can see it with your eyes without any benchmarks.
for example, a ZIP archive of around 500MB on my desktop (which has a 7200 HDD) was extracted in 22 seconds while on the laptop it was done in 1 min and 16 secs !
that sux

also, i feel a little unconfortable with the wide screen !
it would had been perfect for me to have an nx9420 with the non-numeric keys which i dont use them at all but with a normal 17" screen.
what would had been perfect

i will do more tests.

 

After using my laptop now for around a month or so I stand by the fact that I am very impressed.

I love having the numeric pad on the keyboard. The machine is snappy, and works well. The only recomendation I would have is get the extra 1gb of ram as the ATI hypermemory sucks.

It seems to grab some of the ram whether it needs it or not. I would personally love a way to disable it. The sound buttons don't seem to work when in a Full Screen App (the buttons seem to control the Windows Sound Program so it ight be a limitation with it).

 

I got a HP NX9420, worked great till who knows what happened. The USB ports have got me puzzeled. in device manager, looking at the usb ports shows 5 Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family)USB Universal Host Controller -27c8, 27c9, c7cA,27CB, and 27CC

What is interesting is the last one only shows USB2. And my external 2.0 USB hard drive only works in the left top USB port. All the rest don't reconize it.

The literture says all 4 ports are USB 2.0. So is this normal.

Plus I had a major meltdown and had to re install windows. HP sent me FREE the restore disk. One Win XP w/sp2 and a driver cd. Sweet.

But somehow the installation would go so far, pop out with some exception error at different points and I requested a replacement. Then I went to show a computer geek my problem and lo and behold all went well. Go figure except for the USB thing. I really like this notebook.

Oh one more thing, anyone else look at the number of pipes the ATI x1600 chop has? ATITool show only 4. Some guru says this is normal and that the new x1000 chips have 3 pipes per making 12 pipes.

Input please..................

Dave

 

Just got off being on line chat with HP for 2.5 hours with my USB issue. My USB device 2.0 only seemed to work in one port. I wanted to know what was up. Anyways, HP support (in INDIA) sys that the NX9420 only has 1 USB 2.0 port and I guess that port is on the left side top USB port. But all the reviews and HP's own literture says it has 4 2.0 USB ports.

Personally, I think he was an idiot.

Now has anyone got a NX9420 and can verify this?

Thanks
Dave

 

I get USB 2.0 on all four Ports. At least with my flash drives. I will try my USB drive on Monday (It's at work).

But I am pretty sure I plug it in on the left side bottom port usually.

 

Can you elaborate on this portion? This is what I'm trying to do with my nw9440, but I really can't find anything concrete about how to go about reformatting and reinstalling. I want to get a clean OS, but I also don't want to forego the software that makes things work on this machine. I want to be able to use all the programmable buttons, and I want to be able to use the fingerprint scanner if it's not too cumbersome.

I'm just not sure how to go about this because when I did a reformat/reinstall with my retail XP upgrade on my old laptop, I tried to use the recovery disks to reinstall some of the software that came with the computer (Photoshop Elements) and they wouldn't work for some reason I can't remember. The CDs tried to tell me that it wasn't the same computer or didn't have some of the necessary Sony software or something.

Here's what I've done so far:
1. Create recovery DVDs (set of 2)
2. Verify that they have the right information burned to them
3. Create a DVD backup of the SwSetup folder
4. Delete the recovery partition using the recovery manager icon
5. Run Belarc Advisor to get, among other things, my install keys for WinXP Pro & MSOffice 2003 (I have the disk for Office though)

I'd like to create a Windows XP disk to reformat and reinstall a clean copy of this OS, and then reinstall only the absolutely necessary software.

First, I'm not sure how to create the XP install disk, unless it's just like as explained in this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=91129 But does creating an install disk that way mean I'm "slipstreaming" the necessary stuff into the disk? I need more explanation. Second, what software is necessary to reinstall in order to get all the functionality from my HP business notebook?

I'd really appreciate any help. I've been searching, here, nu2, google... just haven't been able to really find anything that's concrete on how to go about actually doing this.

 

The reason why you see 5 USB controllers but only got 4 connectors is that the Bluetooth connector uses an USB inteface (but not an USB connector).

 

The HP VT thread have some news, I guess oglsmm will get VT soon.
3 posts on november 28 from Andy Fisher:

 

got mine today....

U can switch the Fn Ctrl key around... theres an option in the bios... NICE...

still no VT ... posted a thread on hp support about that... nw8440 got it after the users requested it ... we should too...

UP

 

Can somebody please explain the importance of the SwSetup folder? Seems to be a lot more (3.33 GB) in there than drivers.

 

Hi, i am totally new on this strong forum.
I am no so unexperienced Windows user, but this laptop has confused me a little with this recovery options, ISOs... I want to rearrange all partitions here, install Vista, XP and make 2 data partitions more.
My question is how and what to burn on DVDs- I have some ISO file and few software folders on C partition...
And most important, how to make WIN XP bootable CD with important SATA drivers... Can I use any other WIN XP install CD (because I have Home XP with notebook)?
thanks a lot

 

- There are still some missing drivers for Vista, look here. Unless you're able to find them on third party sites, wait until HP have released Vista drivers.

- Here's how to install Windows on a SATA drive. More info here.

 

to Mats:

the swsetup folder contains ALL the drivers AND software for multiple configurations of laptops... including nx9440

just compress it to rar or zip and burn it to a dvd... you'll be thankfull later...

let me know if anybody needs the backup dvds or the compressed swsetup. i'll upload them..

 

Thanks samov! I was just surprised that swsetup was so big.

How much RAM did your nx9420 use at idle at first startup? Mine used a horrible high 370 MB.

I also wonder if people have undervolted it. The stock Vcore for mine is between 0.950 - 1.2625 V. For some reason I cant go below 0.950 V, so I can only undervolt the Vcore under load. See thread here.

Don't use CrystalCPUID, the settings are just way off, you can't change Vcore and the CPU gets overvolted because CCID recognizes the CPU as a PM!

 

I was able to burn the swsetup folder to dvd without compressing

 

Got my nx9420 and man i am very impressed

The first thing though is i burnt the recovery disks, as well as the swsetup files in order to do a clean install of xp pro, however unless you have a usb floppy you may want to slipstream the ata drivers for the SATA HDD into a windows installation disk

what i did was download a program called nlite ( http://www.nliteos.com/)
and integrated the SATA drivers

everything went smoothly

I love this laptop

 

Yes, I had made slipstreamed XP pro, according to experts suggestions, and everything installed easily... Only I now have one undefined device in device manager and do not know what it is... also another thing I do not like is that gigabit lan is seen like add/ remove device and in moment when put out net cable it dissapears...

 

I tried Windows 2003 earlier, it was 4 devices it couldn't recognize, making it impossible to choose drivers manually.
I have looked up the devices now in XP, so if you tell me the hardware ID of the device then I can tell you which drivers you can install manually.
You find the hardware ID in:
Device Manager > "Unknown" > Properties > Information, choose hardware ID in the menu. You probably get one of these:

Unknown ACPI\HPQ0004 = HP Mobile Data Protection System
Unknown ACPI\HPQ0006 = HP Quick Launch Buttons
Unknown ACPI\IFX0102. = Infineon Trusted Platform Module
If it's a PCI Device at Bus 2, Device 6, Function 3 then it's the SD slot, didn't check the ID since I got enough info anyway.

I'm running a Swedish version so I'm not sure of the English words but I think you know what I mean.

About the gigabit LAN, mine was like that too with the included BIOS so there's nothing wrong with yours, even though I admit it's a bit annoying.
Dunno if it's possible to permanently delete devices from that list, since I'd never hot swap the LAN module anyway.

 

Just got the latest desktop driver for the graphics. The original one kept the display off for like 1-2 seconds when opening it, making it look like an old, sluggish laptop. Now I can't see any delay, recommended.

 

Good- now I do not have any quotation in device manager... It was HP Mobile Data Protection System missing... Thanks.

 

I actually like the credential manager for signing on to forums and such,

I have had my NX9420 about a week and Man I love this machine, Simple Clean, and Fast

question though with the mobile data protection , if you upgrade to another HDD will that cause an Issue?

 

yes... i must say that hp nailed a VERY good laptop when they built the nx9420...


i discovered a problem ....

IF i listen to some heavy rock ... MAXIMUM VOLUME... for about 30 sec to 1 min the hdd shock sensor kicks in and the hdd stops reading => resulting in a freeze... if you press the mute button... it resumes back to normal...

it also happens at 60-70% of volume but it's not noticeable since the hdd resumes really fast...

DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE THIS PROBLEM?!

i guess it's not a big issue and some sound insulation around the laptop's hdd probably fixes it...

here is the link on HP support forums

http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/bizsupport/questionanswer.do?threadId=1088643

 

I made an installation disc from my i386 folder. It's easier than it looks! Besides settiing up the bcd111 folder you have to do 3 things: find out the new serial = VERY IMPORTANT, copy the i386 folder, and burn the disc with the program (you don't need any third party CD burn program like Nero). You'll have a nice, clean install disc. Use nLite if you want to add drivers or updates. I installed without SATA drivers and added them afterwards as described by HP, it worked perfectly.

The only thing I miss with my nx9420 is a third mouse button, but that's not a problem as long as I use a mouse.

 

I just found out how to remove it from the list permanently:

BIOS > System Configuration > Device Configurations > LAN Power Saving > Disable

 

Is it possible to overclock laptop CPUs on 9420_
I havent seen those BIOS options...

 

Hi I am about to buy nx9420. Could any one tell me how good is display when using it on lower resolutions (in games, 800x600)?

Tnx.

 

the lcd quality is good. i am happy with it. i played Second Life a little and it looked OK. i cant say much about gaming.

 

Can I run WM ware on this machine? I want to run Fedora under XP...
Is it possible or not, course I reed something against that in earlier posts...

 

after 1 year my nx9420 got noisy
its noisier than my intel 950D desktop.

also, it seems to heat up noticeably but i dont know if its only an impression, maybe because of the noise i feel like its not cooled right.
and i see the vents on the back have dust.

im not very happy with it because of the noise. when i bought it i wanted a quiet system.
how is urs now?

at the end of this year im thinkin to change it to one having santa rosa platform, a T7700, not necessary because of performance but hoping its quieter. T7700 should be more energy efficient hence less noisier. what do u think about T7700 from this perspective.

thanks

 

Clean It!!!!!!

 

1: Clean the unit

2: In the future -BE AWARE that most all laptops the INTAKE VENT is on the BOTTOM on the machine... So you need to keep that in mind when positioning the unit.

3: You need to LOOK into and DOWNLOAD / Install , USE apps that will MONITOR exactly what your temps are /fan speeds.

(If for example after cleaning you notice fan speed is for example 800rpm, and 4 months later it's running faster- and your temps have risen this indicates it's time to clean the system...)

4: Another thing to look at is the thermal compound /tape used- you might want to replace it.

.

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